By Samuel Strait – Reporter at Large – December 21, 2021 Most people who live in Del Norte County could care less that our erstwhile assemblyman, Jim Wood, graced the County's Board of Supervisors with a visit. The ostensible reason for his visit was to wax elegant about all the things he wasn't accomplishing for the County. His range of topics where literally nothing he has done has moved the needle consisted of Last Chance Grade (groan), broadband, more firefighters, recycling, and last but not least healthcare. It is not as if we haven't heard Wood's song and dance routine before, it is just all his talk has produced a big fat zero for the County. The biggest issue for the County has been and will be for some time to come, getting some kind of movement on re routing Last Chance Grade. With large scale environmental forces arrayed against any reasonable route around the crumbling cliff face, the tunnel has emerged as the go to solution. The problem will only be convincing the State to cough up over a billion dollars to fix something Sacramento barely acknowledges even exists. Then if the money becomes available, the next hurdle will be facing inevitable lawsuits from environmental groups that would die if a single redwood tree or even some scraggly bushes were harmed. Moving on, Assemblyman Wood spend a good deal of time talking about mid mile broadband, which is a fancy way of saying fiber optic cables are cost effective for companies to lay near population centers, but not so in the hinterlands. His main talking point was to say the State was intending to step up with eighteen mid mile projects, none of which will be happening to close Del Norte County's mid mile. How precious. In the course of his presentation Assemblyman Wood lauded Governor Hair Gel's shoulder to the wheel approach at getting the mid mile completed and the last mile into people's homes. Hooray! In times of rapid inflation where groceries and gasoline dominate so many people's lives, high speed internet is probably not high on most citizen's priority list. But hey, he's a politician and maybe not a particularly smart one at that. He then proceeded to drag out his score card of bills and talk about recycling as if it continued to do anything but make waste disposal far more expensive here in this County. We would definitely be better served if recycling programs were done away with entirely. Maybe even the CRV program as well. Folks could use a break from paying for forced recycling programs. Perhaps he can suggest to the State that recycling programs should be funded entirely by those that wish to recycle, and not the entire population of the County. Novel idea…. and, we wouldn't have to have a redemption center or worry about it's lack of viability. Do away with recycling which doesn't cover its costs. Ooops, that means all recycling. He rounded out his chat of hot air talking about fire prevention. Complaining that fire prevention crews get hauled away every year to fight fires. Apparently Wood doesn't understand that decades of environmental interference with any effort to maintain California's forests have contributed to the regular forest and brush land fires that rage each summer. It will take a serious concerted effort on California's part, maybe stepping on a lot of environmentalist toes in the process, to set the State on a path of properly maintained forests and grasslands. Nothing he is talking about will change the current path of yearly wild fires in California. A brief dip into healthcare and affordability are Assemblyman Wood's final utterances. As if he is going to make a difference. Clearly the man hasn't a clue, of course neither do our local representatives. Smoke and Mirrors….